iPhone 5 Launch Pictures

It's here: the iPhone 5 is now available in stores! Around the world today, Apple employees are cheering as customers, clutching their newly purchased iPhone 5s, leave Apple stores in Europe, Asia, Canada, Australia, and the US. The smartphone's highly anticipated release drew hordes of fans who, in the tradition of Apple's blockbuster product launches, waited hours — and for a select few, days even — to be some of the first to own the "biggest thing to happen to the iPhone since the iPhone" for themselves. In a little celebration of our own, we've compiled some of the best shots from iPhone 5's launch day across the globe.